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Wednesday, 4 July 2012

YES TO STATE POLICE, NO TO IMMUNITY CLAUSE

In May 2007, a philosopher Mr. Innocent Odiaka wrote under
the sub-theme of “Africa; The enemy within”, whereby he listed the lack of good
governance, unprecedented insecurity, corruption among political elite and
impunity as significant problems that underdeveloped Nigeria and much of
Africa.

According to Odiaka, whose major essay titled “Natural Law
precepts: An introspective look at Africa” was published in the May 2007
edition of ‘Sophia’, a special publication of the National Missionary Seminary
of Saint Paul, Abuja, for Nigeria as well as other African nations to overcome
these challenges of under development, both the political leadership and the
ordinary citizens must collectively implement far-reaching fundamental
solutions that would institutionalize respect for the rule of law and
enthronement of good governance.

It is in an attempt to solve these fundamental issues that
have kept Nigeria as one of the most dangerous places for human beings to live,
according to recent knowledgeable findings, that the National Assembly for the
umpteenth time has set out to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria to effectively strengthen the legal framework for the
institutionalization of good governance and to create the enabling legal
environment for transparency, democracy, accountability and zero-tolerance to
corruption to take firm root in Nigeria.

Nigeria being the self-acclaimed giant of Africa needs to
show good example on how public fund ought to be used to provide public good
and services for the benefit and happiness of the greatest number of the law
abiding citizens.

Following the call by the joint Chairman, National Assembly
committee on Constitution review Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Nigerians to
suggest areas that needed amendments in the constitution, good spirited
individuals and institutions have sent their memoranda on how best to achieve
effective legal and constitutional reforms for Nigeria so that the unprecedented
state of insecurity and other manifestations of near -collapse of the
nation-state can be resolved.

My group met the Deputy Senate President and made far-
reaching suggestions on how best to give Nigerians the most effective
Constitution.

Top among the items we discussed with the Deputy Senate
President was the urgent and immediate need to delete section 308 of the
Constitution which grants immunity from prosecution to Governors, their
Deputies, President and his Vice, throughout the period of their tenure in
offices.

The immunity clause as provided for in the constitution is
anti-thetical to the collective fight against corruption and economic crimes.
The reason for the removal of this ‘dangerous license’ to loot public funds
provided for in the Constitution is justified by the discovery that more than
seventy five percent of all past governors were found to have stolen massive
amounts of public fund while in office and these same indicted former public
office holders who hid under section 308 to perpetrate this heist have
comfortably hired ‘trailer- load’ of senior lawyers paid with these stolen fund
to undermine their prosecution by the anti-graft agencies that have now become
like toothless bulldogs.

Ordinary citizens are now the victims because the social
services for which these funds were budgeted for but stolen by these public
office holders have disappeared and these constitutional fundamental human rights to right to health,
right to education and importantly right to life as provided for in section
33(1) guaranteed for the citizenry have all but become unrealistic.

This immunity clause needs to be removed because it has made
the respect for fundamental human rights of citizens highly uncertain since
certain categories of public office holders cannot be charged for offences as
serious as corruption and economic crime while they are in offices for four
years or eight years in the case of those of them who may win second term.
Recently, President Jonathan insulted the listening public when he used a swear
word on publicly funded television to denounce the well -considered call by
Nigerians on him to publicly declare his assets.

Does President Jonathan not know that Nigeria by becoming
party to international human rights treaties, necessarily incurs three broad
obligations namely the duties to respect, to protect and to fulfill?

Manfred Nowak who worked for the United Nations Human Rights
Council wrote that; “while the balance between these obligations or duties may
vary according to the rights involved, they apply in principle to all civil and
political rights and all economic, social and cultural rights”.

I do also support the creation of state police as presently
canvassed by the Nigerian Governors’ forum because the Nigerian police Force as
presently constituted has failed to enforce law and order across the country thereby
exposing citizens in Northern Nigeria to terror-related violence and citizens
in the South to kidnappers and armed marauders.

Importantly, Nigerian government owes Nigeria the
constitutional obligation to secure our international borders to check the
excessive in -flow of small arms, heavy weapons and other sophisticated
explosive devices which are now used to bomb government institutions and
churches in the North.

HURIWA'S WORKING VISIT TO ICPC ON THE 27TH MARCH 2013

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; HURIWA, ON DECEMBER 12TH 2012 VISITED THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY[NEMA] ALHAJI MOHAMMAD SANI-SIDI ON THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY TO CONFER ON HIM THE HUMAN RIGHTS PERSON OF THE YEAR 2012 BY THE ORGANIZATION. THE DG PROMISED TO TAKE DISASTER MANAGEMENT LESSONS TO ALL PARTS OF NIGERIA. HURIWA WAS LED BY ITS NATIONAL COORDINATOR COMRADE EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO.